Former WWE Superstar CM Punk has launched his own official online t-shirt store at ProWrestlingTees.com. Below is a photo of some of the initial designs for Punk’s t-shirts that are available.

Speaking of Punk, it’s said that there are many within WWE who are curious to see how the company decides to handle responding to his recent interview on Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast.

As noted earlier today, WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin mentioned in a new WWE.com interview that he plans on asking Vince McMahon about the Punk situation during their live sit-down interview on the WWE Network tonight immediately following RAW.

The following are highlights of a new Rolling Stone interview with WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin:

Whose idea was it to do a live WWE Network interview with Vince McMahon? “Back in the day I’d reached out to him just in passing about being on the show. A couple of months ago [WWE] came to L.A. for SummerSlam and we were trying to put it together then, but he didn’t have the time to fit me in. Then they were going to fly me to Stamford but I didn’t want to go all that way to do a podcast [laughs]. So we’ve wanted to do this thing for a while. I guess timing is everything and so someone from WWE reached out to me and said, “Hey, what do you think about doing your podcast live on the WWE Network?” and I said, “Man, that would be awesome.” It’s a win-win for both parties.

Any time you go live with Vince McMahon it’s going to be a very interesting experience. To me this is a conversation between us about the wrestling business and the direction the WWE’s headed in. There’s a few key talent I’d like to ask specific questions about. In doing my research, I’ve started watching some of the old videos of the work we did as far as angles go and the chemistry we had in the ring, so I’m not there to be Howard Stern. My podcast is a conversation, it’s basically a bulls–t session: two guys shooting the breeze talking about the business. At the end of the day, Vince McMahon is in the entertainment business, as am I, so I want it to be entertaining and engaging. I’m looking forward to it.”

What are your thoughts on NXT? I think that show harkens back to wrestling’s past in terms of style and presentation. “You hit the nail right on the head. I haven’t watched a whole lot of it but what I have seen I liked. I like the lighting, I like the action and it just feels different. I understand what WWE’s trying to do with Monday Night Raw, they want it to look like it’s the slickest production in the world, but sometimes it’s too slick. When everyone’s got a scripted promo, it doesn’t breed the same spontaneity that the Attitude Era had. You had a lot of guys out there grabbing a microphone where they might have a bullet point or two, but their words – you can’t write that stuff.”

Check out the complete interview at RollingStone.com.

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WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has posted a lengthy blog update at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on CM Punk’s now infamous podcast interview with Colt Cabana, Steve Austin interviewing Vince McMahon after RAW live on the WWE Network and more. It’s worth noting that Ross says he has not yet listened to the Punk podcast, but is reacting to what he’s heard about it.

Here are some highlights of what he said about:

CM Punk’s Podcast Interview With Colt Cabana:

“Often times it is better for the talent to be given a leave of absence to allow feelings to become less emotional and bodies to heal. However, as always evaluating an issue of this magnitude in hindsight is generally 20/20. I don’t know how all the internal conversations went between Punk and WWE. We’ve heard only one side of the story thus far …”

“Its also very important for any company to pay  close attention to all talents and it’s also a fact that all talents can’t be treated the same because all people are different. The wrestling business breeds paranoia and a variety of insecurities much like Hollywood actors and many athletes because the nature of their genres generally have shorter shelf lives as it relates to one’s career. In other words, managing a talent roster in any pro wrestling company is and always has been a 24/7 proposition.  I can tell you that it was the most emotionally draining, exhausting and stressful job that I ever had. It affected my health but I was blessed that it did not adversely affect my marriage. I’m a lucky man in that department.”

Steve Austin Interviewing Vince McMahon After RAW: 

“Mr. McMahon and the Rattlesnake had magical chemistry and a competitive rivalry that went well beyond the bell to bell action. Steve’s proud of his podcast that can be found with my Ross Report on Podcast One and I don’t think he would leave his Texas ranch to fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma to lob softballs to the Chairman of WWE. I fully expect Steve to address the Punk situation with McMahon. Vince rarely dodges any major issue in this sort of forum and Austin has become a great interviewer so I have extremely high expectations for this piece of business. I know that I will be watching and that’s after sitting through another three hour RAW.

Seeing Austin and McMahon doing business together Monday night will be nostalgic and, at one time years ago, would have seemed unlikely but the two of them finally communicated, addressed each other’s issues and then made more history in WWE that may never be rivaled.”

There is much more to the blog, including Jim Ross’ thoughts on how WWE manages the talent roster and the upcoming NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 pay-per-view.

With “Stone Cold” Steve Austin interviewing WWE Chairman Vince McMahon for his “Steve Austin Show” live on the WWE Network immediately following tonight’s “Cyber Monday” edition of RAW, the official WWE website caught up with the WWE Hall Of Famer to ask him a few questions regarding tonight’s big podcast.

Jim Ross Blog: CM Punk’s Pipebomb Podcast, Austin Interviewing Vince

Below are highlights of the WWE.com interview.

WWE.COM: Now that you’re entering people’s eardrums with your podcast every week, chatter about your in-ring return has reached a fever pitch. Is there any part of you that wishes the rumors would die down?

AUSTIN: That’s all just chatter, because you never hear me on the podcast selling myself in a match. Hulk Hogan’s trying to stir a matchup, calling me a coward. A lot of what I say breaks over into the mainstream, but I don’t ever want to sell a match that I cannot deliver, because I wouldn’t be living up to my word.

WWE.COM: Point blank, is there any chance we’ll see the black trunks and black boots anytime in the near or distant future?

AUSTIN: As we speak right now, no.

WWE.COM: What is the one thing you want Mr. McMahon to have to answer on your live podcast on WWE Network?

AUSTIN: Nothing is off limits. There’s a line that I won’t cross, but that’s for my standards — nothing that WWE has told me. There are many things I’d like to ask him. I’d like to know what’s going on with CM Punk. I’d like to know how Daniel Bryan’s health is. I’d like to know whose idea it was in Atlanta [that made me] take my ball and go home in 2002. I reacted the worst way possible, but I want to know who came up with that masterpiece of an idea. Guys like me come along very seldom in the wrestling business. You can count ’em on a couple of fingers.

• AUDIO: *MORE* From CM Punk’s SHOOT Against WWE, SHOCKING Comments!

The official WWE website currently features a giant advertisement for WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s live podcast with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, which is scheduled to air on the WWE Network immediately following tonight’s “Cyber Monday” themed edition of WWE RAW.

WWE is promoting the appearance with the main hype centering around Austin revealing whether or not he will ever wrestle again.

Below is the official blurb accompanied by the ad on WWE.com.

“In a candid one-on-one conversation, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin speaks about the favorite episodes of his podcast, what he wants to ask Mr. McMahon tonight and the one thing everybody wants to know: if he’ll ever wrestle again.”

While it should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody who actually heard the interview, the Colt Cabana “Art of Wrestling” podcast with CM Punk earlier this week has been the talk of the locker room in WWE since it first appeared on the internet.

The general consensus is that virtually everyone within WWE — most notably the talent themselves — thought it was one of the greatest things ever.

It’s widely known within WWE that in certain circles, CM Punk is well-liked, while in others, which is a big much bigger circle, by the way, everyone — fans and detractors of Punk — all thoroughly enjoyed the interview.

The key reason that everyone was in favor of Punk’s appearance on the show was because whether you like him or not, he pointed out — in what is said by many to be in very honest fashion — many issues that the current pool of talent within WWE deal with, and have dealt with, for quite a while. Many are said to be afraid to speak up about many of the issues that Punk touched on, but universally applauded him for having the gull to do so without any fear of repercussions.

The reason of Vince McMahon himself was said to be not as bad as you would think. While McMahon is notorious for “no-selling” issues that do in fact bother him, the general consensus was that while he wasn’t pleased with Punk for many of the comments he made, to say the least, he wasn’t as over-the-top angry or upset as two other key WWE high-ranking executives.

Those executives are none other than Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

Triple H was said to be outraged and furious, and according to one person close to the situation, outright said he “wants to kill CM Punk.”

While this is likely a moot point, as Punk himself made it clear during the podcast that he has no desire to return to the world of professional wrestling, much-less WWE, that he is on one of those unofficial “banned for life” lists.

Some people believe that while Vince McMahon is still alive and in complete control of the company, anything is possible in terms of being willing to bring Punk back one day, however, those same people are under the belief that when and if it becomes up to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, Punk has no chance whatsoever at stepping foot back onto a WWE television, or non-televised program, for that matter.

Continue reading this story by clicking below to advance to page two …

Nearly ten months after his final appearance for WWE, CM Punk finally addressed the circumstances behind his departure from the sports-entertainment organization in an explosive two-hour interview with Colt Cabana on the Art of Wrestling podcast. On Figure Four Daily on F4WOnline.com on Friday, Bryan Alvarez offered insight on the reaction around WWE to the former Superstar’s controversial remarks (click here to listen).

Even with Punk having a number of detractors in WWE, Alvarez was told that virtually everybody in WWE who listened to the podcast “thought it was awesome.”

Alvarez said, “Now if you know CM Punk, CM Punk is a guy who has his lovers—maybe that’s the wrong word—he has his fans, and he has his detractors. There’s a group of people in WWE who are big fans of CM Punk, and there are people in WWE who just can’t stand the guy. When he left, I heard from people that were like, ‘Thank God this guy has left! He drove us crazy. He was so angry.’ When he did his podcast with Colt Cabana, he admitted that at the end, he was actually sorry for how many times he told people to fuck off. When it happened, I had been told from people that he was so miserable, he was such as a crabby individual, they were glad he was finally gone out of the locker room because they couldn’t handle him anymore. Now with that said, the impression that I got was, even people who did not like CM Punk, even people who really thought he was a miserable guy and were not CM Punk’s fans in the slightest, they were fans of a lot of the stuff that he talked about in the podcast.”

He continued, “It is true, there are a lot of guys in the company who are afraid to speak out, they’re afraid to say anything, they’re afraid to approach management, they’re afraid to ask questions, and CM Punk got a lot of that out in the podcast. And he opened a lot of people’s eyes that didn’t know anything about what goes on internally in WWE. So there were even people that don’t like CM Punk and don’t want him back in the company, who are happy that he did this podcast and said everything that he said.”

Alvarez said Vince McMahon is upset with Punk, but he’s not “fuming.” With the WWE Network airing a live “Stone Cold” Steve Austin podcast with the WWE Chairman and CEO immediately following Raw next Monday, Alvarez was told that it is very unlikely that he will talk about the matter in-depth. If he does, the feeling is that he will offer a “corporate answer.”

Paul “Triple H” Levesque was among those hit the hardest in Punk’s two-hour long speech as The Straight Edge Superstar addressed his issues with the WWE executive throughout the show. During his meeting with Levesque and McMahon that led to his exit from WWE, Punk went off on Levesque for not putting him over in 2011 when he was riding high on the momentum from his infamous “pipe bomb” promo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Upon being told by McMahon that he would be wrestling Levesque in a ‘main event’ at WrestleMania 30, Punk recalled turning to Hunter to say, ‘All due respect, I do not need to wrestle you, you need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to fucking come in and squash it. And then I had to lose to fucking Truth and Miz. It didn’t make any business sense then, it doesn’t make any business sense now, and I am in a position now where I can tell you that I don’t have to nor do I want to wrestle you at WrestleMania. I don’t care if I was supposed to win.'”

Punk then noted, “Which I was. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to give him the fucking privilege. I said a lot of shit in there. I told them again and Hunter, he was gritting his teeth and I knew… he never liked me. It’s one of those situations where you always hear those stories in the dirt sheets about ‘Hunter says this about Punk’ and all this negative stuff but me and him in a room together? Never any good vibes. Always negative, the way he would always look sideways at me, the way he always treated me.”

According to Alvarez, Levesque is furious with Punk over his remarks. He said he received a text message from a person in WWE reading ‘Triple H wants to kill Punk.'”

Alvarez added that Levesque, as well his wife, Stephanie McMahon, have ‘an abject hatred’ for Punk. He is also considered to be on their no-call list.

WWE officials are also extremely unhappy with Cabana. Cabana, who was being courted by the organization for an announcing role as recently as last year. He is said to be on their “shitlist.”

See GIF of Ryback’s botch dropping CM Punk on concrete

– The live “Steve Austin Show” podcast with special guest Vince McMahon, which as noted will air live on the WWE Network following next Monday’s RAW, is expected to run over an hour in length.

– It looks as though next Tuesday’s edition of the “Monday Night War” documentary series on the WWE Network will focus on the impact of The Undertaker and Sting in the WWE vs. WCW battle for wrestling supremecy. The official description for the episode reads as follows:

“In an era of shifting loyalties, WWE and WCW would each build a cornerstone in order to achieve stability.”

Apparently the original plan for Monday’s post-Survivor Series edition of RAW was to include a segment with Vince McMahon and John Cena, which would have ultimately led to a period with no authority figure on the show throughout the evening.

Instead, they went with the Daniel Bryan angle, concluding with the return of the “Anonymous GM,” however that has also been some discussions of having weekly General Managers of the evening, some of which may end up being celebrities.

Apparently the key reason WWE decided to heavily promote the WWE Network live special edition of Steve Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” podcast with Vince McMahon as the guest was to lure the people who subscribed to the Network for the free month of November into returning for the month of December.

The special “Steve Austin Show” podcast with Vince McMahon is scheduled to air on the WWE Network immediately after next Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, so it’s pretty safe to assume that it will be one of the key focal points in terms of repetitive promotion throughout the show on Monday night.

– Randy Orton is not currently scheduled for any WWE events until the WWE Holiday Tour kicks off after Christmas.

– Steve Austin is taking questions for his upcoming podcast with Vince McMahon, which airs live on the WWE Network next week immediately after RAW. If you’ve got a quetion you want Austin to ask Vince, send it to questions@steveaustinshow.com.

– Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins will be a guest on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast later this week.

This week on @TalkIsJericho:
Wed- #SethRollins @WWERollins & @roryfox_ !!
Fri- @VH1 @MobWives star @ReneeGraziano & Brazilian Flag incident!

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) November 25, 2014

• 5 Big Predictions Folowing WWE Survivor Series (Editorial & Discussion)

– As noted earlier today, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan has been backstage at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana today. As it turned out, Bryan made his television return in the opening segment of RAW. He appeared as The Authority was bidding farewell to the WWE Universe. Bryan was in charge of the RAW for the night – for the full breakdown of Bryan’s return, check out our RAW Results (11/24/14).

– Also announced on RAW was the next guest on Steve Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” podcast. On his next show, which is available tomorrow at PodcastOne.com, Bray Wyatt will be the featured guest. On next Monday’s show, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon will be the guest on Austin’s podcast, which will air live on the WWE Network.

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WWE issued the following today …

WWE® NETWORK TO AIR A LIVE “STONE COLD” STEVE AUSTIN PODCAST WITH SPECIAL GUEST VINCE MCMAHON

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 24, 2014 – WWE Network will air a live “Stone Cold” Steve Austin podcast with special guest, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon immediately following Monday Night Raw on USA next Monday, December 1. The WWE Hall of Famer and host of the popular podcast The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed will sit down with Vince McMahon from BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla for this special interview. Fans can expect “Stone Cold” to be his usual brash and in-your-face self, like only he can be, during WWE Network’s first-ever video podcast presentation.

WWE Network features 24/7 scheduled programming, all 12 pay-per-view events LIVE and the most comprehensive video-on-demand library with more than 2,600 hours of content, including every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view, all for $9.99 per month with no commitment and the ability to cancel any time. WWE Network programming includes groundbreaking original programming, reality shows, documentaries, classic matches, exclusive coverage of special events and more. The U.S. English language version of WWE Network is available on an over-the-top basis in more than 170 countries and territories.

Like other digital subscription services, such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, fans are able to subscribe online by going to WWE.com and can watch WWE Network on their TV through connected devices such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku streaming devices, Sony Playstation 3, Sony Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Smart TVs including Sony and Samsung.

For a complete listing of WWE Network availability by country and device, please click here.

It was announced during the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view on Sunday night that WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s weekly “Steve Austin Show” podcast would be airing live on the WWE Network on December 1st.

Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” is set to air on the WWE Network immediately following RAW on Dec. 1st with special guest, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

In 1987, WWE presented their first ever “Survivor Series” event, the first non-WrestleMania pay-per-view event, originally designed to steal viewers away from their main competition at the time, NWA’s “Starrcade,” which was the south’s version of “WrestleMania” (even though Starrcade came first) and was WWE’s attempt to throw down the gauntlet to the pay-per-view industry.

Basically put, if you were a pay-per-view provider and you decided to carry Starrcade, you would not be able to carry WrestleMania, a proven success in the pay-per-view industry.

That was the beginning.

From there, throughout the years, a number of historical events would take place at a Survivor Series event.

In no particular order, you can point to single Superstar debuts such as The Undertaker in 1990, which was also the debut of the infamous Gobbeldy Gooker. Which was the more famous of the two, well, I’ll let you decide.

1996 saw the debut of “Rocky Maivia,” to this day arguably the biggest cross-over name to ever emanate from the world of sports entertainment. At the time, while he was touted as being the first-ever third generation performer, and as “Good Ole’ JR” would say, “that’s gonna be the man, right there! That’s blue-chipper, right there!” with all of the enthusiasm the only Jim Ross could muster, oh how true those words would come to be as time went on.

One year later, the most infamous moment perhaps in all of WWE would take place. A moment that certainly began the shift in the WWE vs. WCW “Monday Night Wars” would take place, as not only did Bret Hart get “screwed” in what would become known as “The Montreal Screwjob,” but in many ways, that became the birth of the “Mr. McMahon” character, one that without he, the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin character may have never reached the heights that he would go on to achieve throughout his illustrious career.

In 1999, WWE’s first ever Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle, made his official in-ring pay-per-view debut, defeating Shawn Stasiak in the second match on the card.

In 2002, the Survivor Series featured another “first,” as this would be the first time that we were treated to a new gimmick match known as the “Elimination Chamber.” A man notorious among the wrestlers within the profession, just a few months ago the match concept was thrown out, large in part — according to various rumors — because of how unforgiving the structure was for those who had to actually compete inside it.

Most recently, the big “debut” of a match, concept or character took place at the November 18, 2012 edition of the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view, which took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, as three men who would become known as “The Shield” made their official WWE main roster debut. Those three men would become known as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.

Just to show how important those three men are, one is involved (as a Team Captain, no less) in the main event of this year’s Survivor Series, which takes place tonight from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

That man is Seth Rollins.

Another one of the former Shield members, Dean Ambrose, is in what is being billed as arguably the legitimate co-main event of the evening, as he collides with another rising up-and-comer, Bray Wyatt.

And that leaves Roman Reigns.

Well, while he’s not officially booked on the actual card for tonight’s show, let’s just say there are a lot of rumors going around that claim we just may see him involved on the show tonight in some form or fashion after all.

Finally, that leaves two other names.

First up, the hometown boy. St. Louis’ own “The Viper” Randy Orton is rumored to make his return to WWE, after taking a brief hiatus to film a WWE Studios project, “The Condemned 2.”

Last, and absolutely not least, is “The Icon.”

While yours truly is not holding his breath and is going to take a “wait and see” approach before getting overly excited, rumors on the internet over the past few days insist that a certain Crow-painted style performer will make his very, very highly-anticipated WWE pay-per-view debut tonight at the Scottrade Center.

That’s right, folks. “The man they call Sting” is rumored to make his WWE debut, after all these years, at the same show that has produced so many memorable debuts, characters, matches and moments. If, in fact, “The Stinger” does make his WWE debut on tonight’s show, this writer has his new favorite Survivor Series moment of all-time.

We’re just hours away! Make sure to keep it locked right here at SEScoops.com for the most extensive, in-depth, live results coverage of tonight’s WWE Survivor Series 2014 pay-per-view!

Until then, leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below, and don’t forget to add me as a friend on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or follow me on Twitter @MBoone420.

Enjoy the show, everybody!

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan continues to tease that he’s gearing up for a match at WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015. WWE hosted a WrestleMania 31 kickoff event on Friday night at Levi’s Stadium in California, with Hogan taking questions from the fans in attendance.

When asked by a fan if we’ll see Hogan wrestle again, he jumped right into hype mode, stating that he’s training like he’s got a WWE title match coming up, brother.

“Here’s the deal, brother. A very wise man once told me a long time ago – and that wise man was Vince McMahon – and he said, ‘Never say never.’ Right now, I’m back on my feet. I had a bunch of surgeries, a bunch of ‘whoa is me’ stuff, got back on my feet, and then training like I’m training for the WWE Title right now.

“It could happen at any time. Whether it’s a retirement match, whether it’s the beginning of the run, whether it’s a WWE Title spot – a chance to win the title. I’m getting ready like I’m the main event in this place. So, never say never, brother. You never know what’s going to happen.”

E-C-W! E-C-W! E-C-W!

The chants can still be heard today. In fact, WWE still capitalizes on those three letters to this very day.

For example, last Monday night after RAW, WWE premiered “ECW Exposed” on the WWE Network as part of a full “ECW Week” theme for their digital subscription service.

Next Tuesday night, a second edition of “ECW Exposed” is scheduled to air on the WWE Network.

Hell, this weekend, Tommy Dreamer will be presenting the seventh “House Of Hardcore” event, which is considered by many to be a show with the old “ECW feel” to it.

My question is this, why do we see so many ECW reunion shows, but no WCW reunion shows? I’m assuming it has a lot to do with dollars and cents.

For an ECW reunion show to be held, you need at least some of the following guys: Paul Heyman, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, Bully Ray, Devon, Terry Funk, The Sandman, Rob Van Dam, Raven and Shane Douglas. Sure, there are many other names you can go with, but you need at least a few of those guys on the event for it to feel like a legitimate ECW reunion show.

For a WCW reunion show to be held, you need at least some of the following guys: Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, Sting, Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner and Rick Steiner. Again, many names are missing, but the fact remains, the price tags of the key guys needed for an ECW reunion show versus the price tags for a WCW reunion show are world’s apart.

WWE has at different points in time had enough of the aforementioned WCW names under contract, and certainly has enough money to secure the stars they didn’t have at a particular point in time, to put together a legitimate WCW reunion show.

Outside of the financial side of putting together a reunion show for the former two biggest rival promotions to WWE, there is the financial side of how much these shows would generate.

When you compare the amount of DVDs sold between “The Rise & Fall Of ECW” and “The Rise & Fall Of WCW,” again you will notice that they are world’s apart.

When ECW went out of business in 2001 they were still a beloved promotion that just didn’t have the financial backing or television exposure to stay afloat. When WCW went out of business in 2001 they barely had a pulse.

The fan-base for ECW was a rabid, cult-like fan-base that loved their home-promotion dearly. The fan-base for WCW by the time the company folded in 2001 was practically nonexistent.

Still, it feels like there is enough WCW nostalgia for a reunion show to work. Anytime rumors circulate that claim WWE is in negotiations with Goldberg, Sting, or any of the other major names wrestling fans associate with WCW, there is a huge buzz. Fans are excited at the prospect of these guys coming into the current fold and squaring off against today’s crop of WWE Superstars.

Currently, there is a lot of interest in a Sting vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania. There has been buzz in the recent past about a possible showdown between Goldberg and his modern-day carbon-copy Ryback. There’s even been a lot of interest in “The Hulkster” lacing up his red and yellow boots once more.

If WWE were to sign all of these guys, or ever considered the idea at any point in time, why is it out of the realm of possibility that a WCW reunion show would be a success? Personally, I think it would work, however, I think WWE wants the WCW legacy buried and forgotten, and wants the fans of today to only remember history the way Vince McMahon and company choose to portray it.

Ever watched the “Monday Night War” documentary series on the WWE Network? Right there is a perfect example of the WWE-version of history being told.

The fact is, ECW was never a close second to WWE. They definitely provided a template on how to change the wrestling product into something more modern that fans of that generation soaked up in droves. The fact remains, however, that WCW was kicking WWE’s ass for a lengthy period of time.

Prior to that, when WWE was the top dog, WCW was always nipping at their heels. NWA before WCW was at times a close-second to WWE, and for a long period of time was considered to have the better talent roster. Additionally, NWA would beat WWE in television ratings on a somewhat regular basis before fans really paid attention to TV ratings or considered them any legitimate measure of success, as was the case when the ratings became the focal point of the WWE vs. WCW “Monday Night Wars.”

Outside of WrestleMania once a year, WWE puts on pay-per-views that for the most part feel the same. Nothing seems special or different about them anymore, and the entire idea behind a pay-per-view is to put on an event that feels bigger and more unique than a typical weekly wrestling television program.

Unfortunately, current WWE pay-per-views just feel like a slightly better version of a solid edition of WWE RAW and/or WWE SmackDown, when the company should be striving to put on pay-per-views that feel like “must see” or “can’t miss” programming.

Something tells me if WWE were to book a WCW reunion pay-per-view, if they booked the right guys, it would generate a ton of interest and likely draw a solid buyrate. It would garner interest from fans who escaped the wrestling bubble and moved on with their lives back in 2001 when the only alternative to the WWE-style of wrestling went out of business.

Picture it guys — WCW One Night Stand!

I’d fork out $44.95 and spend three hours of a Sunday evening to watch it.

And something tells me many others would as well.

How about you? Would you be interested in buying a “WCW Reunion” pay-per-view event? Let us know by posting your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also connect with me directly on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.

– NXT attendance has risen over the past few weeks. Traditionally, NXT live events have been drawing in the range of 100-150 fans, however the shows are said to have drawn in the 200-250 range over the past few weeks.

– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with former WWE head writer Alex Greenfield, is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:

TRR – Ep39 – Alex Greenfield

“Former head writer of WWE Smackdown, Alex Greenfield, doesn’t hold back in this explosive, uncensored conversation about his time with WWE. He recounts his tumultuous relationship with Vince McMahon, working with The Undertaker, and why he loves tag team wrestling. He’s also got stories about JBL, Mark Henry, Ted DiBiase, and Shawn Michaels. And he’s got more than a few comments about today’s WWE product and creative!”

You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

Regarding Rey Mysterio’s backstage meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H at the WWE RAW taping in Buffalo, New York a few weeks ago, it’s said that nothing definitive came out of it other than Vince wanting to get Mysterio back in a WWE ring.

While many assume Triple H is running things within WWE these days, it was said to be pretty clear that the Mysterio meeting was a Vince meeting and it was Vince running the show in that regard.

There is a belief within WWE that a compromise will be made soon that will see Mysterio make a return, working regularly between now and WrestleMania 31. His current contract is set to expire in late-April.

WWE officials have reportedly asked Mysterio to work more dates than most think he should.

The following are complete spoiler results of the WWE SmackDown taping from Liverpool, England.

– Chris Jericho opens up the WWE SmackDown taping for this week. He comes out to a huge pop from the Liverpool audience. It’s time for the “Highlight Reel” segment. Jericho’s guests, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, make their way out to the ring. The fans break out in a “Where’s Our Network?!” chant, much like at Monday’s RAW, which was also taped in Liverpool, England. Not a lot of details about what was said, just that this was apparently a really good segment.

– Vince McMahon came out of nowhere and cut a promo at the top of the stage. He came out after some more “Where’s Our Network?!” chants broke out. He insulted the fans in attendance, saying that Liverpool sounds like a “skin disease.” This was apparently a dark segment that won’t air as part of the broadcast this Friday night. For a photo of Vince at the SmackDown taping in Liverpool, click here.

– Bray Wyatt def. Sin Cara in what was basically a brief squash match. Wyatt dominated from bell-to-bell, picking up the win with his “Sister Abigail” finisher for the 1-2-3. After the match, Wyatt cut a promo, which prompted Dean Ambrose to come out. Wyatt fled the scene before Ambrose could get to him. The segment ended with Wyatt at the top of the stage laughing at Ambrose.

– Goldust and Stardust def. Adam Rose and The Bunny in tag-team action. This was said to be a decent match, but mostly a comedy bout. They teased more issues between Rose and The Bunny.

SmackDown spoiler results continued on page two …

Part-time WWE Superstar was a guest this week on The Turnbuckle Weekly with Chuck Carroll. The full interview can be heard on the 106.7 The Fan and CBS DC website. While discussing his new book, Jericho spoke about his future in WWE:

“Over the last four of five years my schedules and dates surround Fozzy, and WWE has kind of been not as much of a priority. I still love doing it, but I realize it’s not something I’m going to be doing forever. I realized that years ago. To go back for the European shows, Roman Reigns got hurt, there was some injuries and I always enjoy working overseas. So, it’s kind of just a quick little run. Other than that I don’t know. When this Fozzy tour ends, whenever that may be, if I have time available and the WWE has something interesting for me to do. It’s not like they’re just sitting around waiting for Chris Jericho to come back. There have been times… I was going to go back for WrestleMania 30, but we couldn’t figure out anything for me to do that was worthy of that.”

Jericho also spoke about winning Vince McMahon over by not being another “yes man” –

“There [have been] a lot of confrontations with Vince, but that’s because there’s a mutual respect. And some of them get out of control… It’s only because both of us respect each other, trust each other, and believe each other. It doesn’t mean I’m always going to like the things he does or the things he wants to do. And it doesn’t mean that he’s going to like the things that I do and the way that I act and react to things either.”

Other topics discussed include:

* Cody Rhodes and Santino Marella’s bizarre posing competition at a post-WrestleMania party for WWE employees (judged by Undertaker)

* Kid Rock’s reaction to said wacky contest (Jericho was standing with him)

* How he selects which stories aren’t worthy of making it into the book

* How he convinced editors to put a “bonus track” chapter in the book with extra stories

* How the writing process has become easier with Best In The World

The following are highlights of a new Between The Ropes interview with Chris Jericho:

On his latest run in the WWE: The Bray Wyatt cage match in Baltimore and then the Randy Orton – Night of Champions match in Nashville I thought were two…whatever a five star match is. Two really really really good matches that I would put on my list of all-time favorites. And that was good to know because as the years go by, I feel just as good as I ever did. When I go back I’m mentally prepared and I think I still work up to a level I set for myself. But when you go out there and actually do some of those things and actually get the feedback from the live audience that you know you can get and from the critics. The fact that my last match was the best match on the pay-per-view against Randy Orton, I take great pride in that. And if I never work again, I know I’ll always have that. It’s still cool to contribute at the highest level and the day — and Brian, I’m not exaggerating about this — the day I feel I can’t compete at the highest level I set for myself and can’t steal the show, I will not do it again. Throw it on the record, I’m the one guy who can say that. I’m sure Shawn Michaels could say that too. You will not see me in the ring again as a parody of myself or anything other than the absolute best and can go toe-to-toe with anybody else on the roster.

On his relationship with Vince McMahon: I think Vince sees a lot of himself in me. I’m a rebel. I do things the way I see fit but I do it for the good of the company. I’m a company man through and through. I’ve wrestled for nobody — I haven’t taken a bump in any other ring other than a WWE ring since 1999 when I started working for Vince — and I never will. I won’t go back to Japan for a tour or go work here or go work there. Not interested in it. If I’m going to be wrestling, it for Vince McMahon and Vince McMahon only. And he knows that I think he respects that. He also knows I’m not a ‘yes’ man. I don’t have that in me. I have to tell him how I feel. I have to tell him why I think this is better and I can tell him sometimes he’s wrong. Nobody likes to hear that, especially a guy in his position but I think I can do it in more of a deliberate way, more of an ambassadorial way, but I don’t have that in me and I don’t think he wants that.

His thoughts on Dean Ambrose: I saw Dean when he first started and there was something different about him. He has that Jeff Hardy ‘X’ factor. There’s just something about him that you can’t push on somebody. You can teach them how to take a bump, give them a look, give them wins but certain guys have a certain something about them that you know is going to take them to the next level no matter what. Dean definitely has that and in my opinion — I’m not the god of everything but I have a pretty good track record of picking guys — I think he’s the closest that they have right now to being the next face of the WWE. I don’t think that’s as important now with the Network and less emphasis on pay-per-views and that sort of thing. But as far as a guy who can come in there as the top babyface, I think Dean’s your best best right now.

Check out the complete interview at BetweenTheRopes.com.

Cyborg & Transgender MMA Fighter Trade HEATED Insults Back & Forth [MUST READ >>]

The following are highlights of a new Busted Open Radio interview with Chris Jericho:

Is wrestling a lot less organic than it was when you were at the height of your career? “Brian Gewirtz is very much responsible for some of the greatest things we seen over the years. That guy is close to being a genius in the wrestling things on coming up with ideas as Vince. Then you had Shawn Michaels who is one of the best in the business and Chris Jericho who is a Shawn Michaels disciple who is at the peak of his game after 17 years in the business. It is a perfect storm of trust and creatively. You had the fans buy into it. When I punched Rebecca in the face it was supposed to happen but obviously I wasn’t supposed to hit her for real. She zigged when she was supposed to zag and I zigged when she was supposed to zag and I actually hit her. We felt so devastated and I thought for sure Shawn was going to kick my ass and I gladly would have let him. All she got was a fat lip and after she got up she was like ‘Is that all you got Chris?’ people that were watching because people say then after a week we realized this was the best thing that could have happened. It made it real and the people are saying if anyone hit my wife, my husband, grandmother and grandfather I am going to kill them. That is when the feud went into overdrive because it got real.”

Is it difficult for a fan to buy into the current state of professional wrestling? Well, it is different. After Michaels there was the Mysterio angle. That is what I pitched to Vince to work around Rey’s mask. Vince said ‘they don’t care about the mask’, and I said ‘of course they do that is why they buy it.’ We had this guy wear a mask and never explained what it means too him. I want his mask. Vince said ‘Why do you want his mask’? I said because I am a bully. I want his milk money. I don’t want any milk. I am going to take it and throw it into the lake. Then Vince loved it. Then with the CM Punk feud in 2012 my thing I wanted to take it to this next level I wanted to tattoo him. Vince loved it and then was kind of talked out of it. I think someone got in his ear that there is going to be blood. Plus, Vince said he has a million tattoos. Well, it doesn’t matter if he has a million tattoos. What if I tattoo my initials on him FOR REAL? Punk was saying let’s do this for real and that is like being violated. That is why we switched over to the alcoholic thing and I got a lot of hate for that. People saying ‘Oh my father is an alcoholic and how dare you say and use that as a crutch for a pro wrestling storyline.’ Guess what? That is why I did it.”

Was CM Punk okay with the alcoholic angle? “I was begging Vince for us to do the tattoo angle; someone had told Vince that tattoos will create blood and Vince got scared. Plus no one would see it for the reason to describe but he doesn’t have tattoos so he doesn’t get it. He came up with the idea that Punk’s dad has problems with alcohol and you think he wouldn’t go for it and to Punk’s credit and he went for it. I don’t know if he had issues with his family and he wanted to take it out with them and I don’t think he even told his dad about it. Punk gave us full 100 percent with it as he should have and then his sister got involved then it got real. Can we do that now, I don’t know because you got to go into a deep place? When I came back with the Bray Wyatt thing and I was on fire and I was pitching so many ideas. I went in to pitch some ideas to Vince for Summer Slam and the PPV after that, and his response was (and this is great I should save it for my next book.) He was eating steak and I went through this entire 10 minute pitch about this and that and this guy will come back and this retired gunslinger will come in and help his old rival and this whole thing and his response while eating his steak and he says ‘Bad cow’ I said what? ‘Bad cow, this steak is tough, bad cow’ I am like’ is that all you have to say?’ And he is like ‘what else you got’ and I am like okay he doesn’t like this idea. We didn’t do much with the story but like I said all I can do is make suggestions and he is the boss, so he makes the suggestions, but I am a big fan for long storylines.”

It seems like you always had Vince McMahon’s ear: What happened was I finally came into my own in 2008. I came back in 2007 and it was kind of stagnant and I was still doing the Y2J thing that I was doing in the early 2000s and it wasn’t working and I needed a switch. That is why I changed everything and I watched the movie ‘No Country for Old Men’ with the character Anton Chigurh the very quiet, slow speaking psycho, I am going to kill you and that is the way it is. I took that kind of mindset and some people were still ‘Hey let me tell you something I’m going to do this!’ I took it down and turned the volume down and made people listen and I remember people saying ‘We can’t hear you’ when I was doing promo,s and I was like that is the point dummy. Just be quiet and listen to what I am saying, and when you have to pay attention to what I am saying, then you are going to understand that I am serious. I dropped the countdown, dropped all the catchphrases, dropped the highlight reel, stopped wearing tights and switched to trunks.

“I started wearing suits which people weren’t doing at the time. Letting people know that this is different and this is KISS without the makeup. People still ask me why did you switch from tights to trunks? I still get that until this day! I also watched a lot of Nick Bockwinkel tapes. They did that AWA anthology and he was using big words and talking over people’s heads and it pissed people off. Combine those two things and combine it and also with the Shawn Michaels hypocrite thing and bam I found who I am going to be. It made Vince a lot money and it caused a lot of problems. I was getting attacked on the streets. I got attacked by crowds in B.C. I had to pie face a girl who was on Nancy Grace. I was public enemy number one. The whole company was in an uproar. Rob Zimmerman who was the head of PR, he was angry, Stephanie was angry, the company was angry, but the only guy who stayed by me was Vince McMahon. He said you should never have been put into that position with all those fans in the first place. I will fight this until days end.

“When the glow stick happened I was cutting a heel promo and I had a glow stick hit me in the face. It actually hit me in the eye. I freaked out, and said ‘who threw that son of a bitch, you want to throw something? Then throw it! Then all of a sudden a blizzard of glow sticks come into the ring. It’s on YouTube you should check it out. Everyone in the company was so angry. I was going to get suspended for 15,000 and then Johnny Ace called me saying you’re getting fined or even suspended. I was so angry that I called Vince McMahon and saying maybe the corporate Vince McMahon would be angry, but the Mr. McMahon the heel would be like this is what we work for. I caused people to hate me so much that they spent money for a glow stick and threw it at me.

“He got mad at me with the Brazil kicking flag thing. I can’t say that he had my back on that one,but he did have my back to get me out of Brazil that night, He said ‘you know you’re in trouble? I want you out of the country.’ You’re fined and suspended and I want you out of the country, if not you can be in big trouble. He pulled some strings, and paid some people to help me get out of the country. Even though he was furious at me at the time, I didn’t agree with it, but in retrospect he was right. In the end he knows I draw money for the company, and I had the best interest in the company, because I was never an asshole. Even though people thought I was hard to work with.

We missed you at WrestleMania 30; we know at some point you will come back but will you be back by WrestleMania 31? I was going to come back for WrestleMania 30, but we just couldn’t find anything to do. There is a certain thing I need to do to come back to, but I will not do the Fandango thing again. The next night on Raw Fandango was the biggest character on Raw and I will put that directly on the work we did together. I need something that I can sink my teeth into. Something I can believe in and something that has some steam to it. It doesn’t have to be for a title, but it needs to be a semi- main event or something that I think people want to see and that is why when I came back I wanted to work with Wyatt. I wanted to work with Wyatt at WrestleMania 30 but he had the Cena thing. I wanted to work with Daniel Bryan but he was first scheduled to work with Sheamus, but he went on into the main event. So for me to come back and be in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal, that wouldn’t have worked for me. I want to come back and it comes down to schedule with Fozzy and if I can work it out with Vince.”

The following are highlights of a recent Chris Jericho “Ask Me Anything (A.M.A.)” chat on Reddit:

Do you feel like WWE dropped the ball on Bray Wyatt? I thought he looked like a complete joke in his feud with Cena so I appreciated that you took him more seriously. Bray will be a world champion within a year

Thoughts on the rapid rise of Dean Ambrose? Much deserved

What happened to Lights Go Out being in WWE 2K15? It’s not listed in the official press release! Tell me about it. I’m pissed

You don’t mention much in your book about your 2010 departure from the WWE. How did you put that storyline together? Were there plans for you to return and feud with Orton? the plan was for me to return and feud with Orton for Wrestlemania. I chose to do DANCING WITH STARS instead

Do you think Benoit should be in hall of fame? Never

Do you think the wrestling business is better off now (PG, concussion awareness, no blood, etc) or during the peak Monday Night War era (better creatively, more jobs with three companies, worse medical checks in place, etc)? Better now.

Have you ever sneezed/seen someone else sneeze in front of Vince? What was his reaction? He hates sneezing!

For more, visit Reddit.com.

NEW Pics Of Ronda Rousey In The SMALLEST, TIGHTEST Bikini Ever! (SO HOT!!)

Despite reports to the contrary, it appears as though Kurt Angle is not in negotiations with WWE to return to the company as an active in-ring performer.

It was reported recently that Angle declined a full-time contract from WWE because he doesn’t feel like he can handle a full-time touring schedule.

One theory is that if WWE did offer Angle a full-time gig, it was a tactic done on purpose to politely decline him since they know he wouldn’t be able to handle a full-time schedule.

For a long time, Vince McMahon has been against the idea of Angle wrestling for his company again due to health concerns. Many feel that the only plausible scenario is that WWE may be willing to allow Angle to return for a “farewell run” of sorts, as long as he’s able to pass all of the Wellness and physical tests required to do so.